3 . In one Nebraska teen running race before graduating from high school, Brandon Schutt’s personal best turned out not to be about marking the fastest time but displaying the biggest heart.

During the race, he knew he had the potential to ________ for the upcoming state meet, so he slowed to a comfortable ________ that would allow him to simply enjoy the moment and the day. Meanwhile, aiming to ________ his own personal record, after a fast start, Blake Cerveny continued to push himself ________. With less than 400 meters to go, Cerveny got a cramp (抽筋) in his legs and they ________ him. ________ to finish, Cerveny rose from the ground and continued on, only to ________ again after another 150 metere... and again. This time he’d ________ it only 25 meters more before going down. With tremendous effort, the young runner pulled himself up and with a(n) ________ pace, moved forward for one final push. It wasn’t enough. Less than 100 meters from the ________ line, he lay curled on the ground. His ________ had simply given out.

Brandon Schutt, who was at his side, ________ a helping hand. His first ________ to get Cerveny up failed, but like Cerveny, he too refused to ________. With a second tug (拖拽), Cerveny was on his ________. With Cerveny holding Schutt for ________ and Schutt helping Cerveny maintain balance, the two ________ the Final 75 meters. Schutt even made sure the injured runner crossed the finish line first, securing his ________ a faster time.

In today’s competitive world in which the emphasis in athletics is so often put on breaking records, it was ________ to see that for an athlete like Brandon Schutt, the value of true sportsmanship still had legs. And for others, like Blake Cerveny, knowing that finishing the race, no matter the odds or adversity, is the true ________ of a win.

4 . The Cambridge University Library in Britain received a “gift” in early March. 2022. Someone ______ a pink gift bag near the building with a note wishing the librarian a Happy Easter. Inside the bag was the “gift”: two small notebooks from the famous British naturalist Charles Darwin, who is ______ for his theory of evolution. One of the ______ has a famous drawing in it called the “Tree of Life”. Darwin made the drawing in 1837.

The university talked about the ______ on Tuesday. Cambridge believed the notebooks were ______ 20 years ago. They were first thought to be ______ inside the building after they were taken to be photographed. But, after searching through 10 million books, maps and documents, the university reported the notebooks ______ to police in 2020.

British investigators notified police around the world, and a ______ began. The notebooks are valued at millions of dollars. They were ______ , however, in good condition. Darwin’s notebooks contained writings about his famous trip around the world on the ship H. M. S. Beagle. The research ______ his book on evolution called On the Origin of species.

Cambridge University Librarian Jessica Gardner said she was ______ to see the notebooks. But she said her true feelings were profound and almost impossible to adequately express. Gardner said the notebooks would go back into the Darwin Archive. The library is also ______ to the works by scientists Stephen Hawking and Isaac Newton.

The notebooks will be on ______ later this year in a Darwin show at the library. Local police said they are continuing to ______ who may have taken the notebooks and asked for help from anyone who has ______ about the case.

5 . One Moore Elementary School teacher is showing students the importance of communication through “shout­outs”.

The third­grade teacher Lindsey Winders said a shout­out is a compliment (称赞) that students can say or write down. “Like, ‘Hey, I noticed you doing a really great job solving your maths problems yesterday. I wanted to make sure you know that I saw you do that,’” Winders said.

Winders said she makes sure she is giving shout­outs to her students every day. “I might write them a sticky note, or write them a quick little note in their planner. I might just say it to them on their way into the classroom or on their way out of the classroom. But most importantly, I try to do it every day,” Winders said.

In addition to the compliments, Winders has the students greet each other every morning during the morning meeting. She will have students give examples to the class of how to communicate in different settings (场景). A third­grade student Nayelli Moranchel said he had given at least six shout­outs this year. “It makes me happy, because they always write something back,” Moranchel said.

Recently, Winders took it one step further and wrote a personalised note on each of her students’ desks. “In our classroom, sometimes it can be challenging for me to give a compliment or a shout­out to each and every one of them in a way that is equal and valuable at the same time. So I decide that there is no better way than leaving a note on their desks that can stay for as long as they want it to,” Winders said.

Winders said it is encouraging when she sees her students copy the act and give each other compliments without her guidance.

6 . Two weeks ago, a 5-year-old girl named Sunshine Oelfke emptied out her piggy bank (存钱罐) onto the living room floor and immediately started counting. Her grandmother, Jackie Oelfke, thought she was playing as she carefully lined up the coins, but then she saw the girl put the coins into a plastic bag and place it in her backpack.

“What are you doing with that money?” Jackie asked her granddaughter.

“I’m taking it to school,” Sunshine replied. “I’m going to take it for milk money. My friend Layla doesn’t get milk— her mom doesn’t have milk money and I do.”

Jackie’s heart melted at Sunshine’s words. Choked with strong feelings, Jackie held her sweet granddaughter tightly in her arms.

Last week, Jackie and Sunshine met with her teacher, Rita Hausher, and handed her the $30 the kindergartner had saved. There are 20 kids in Sunshine’s class and about half don’t get milk. It costs $ 0.45 a carton (纸盒). The total adds up to about $180 a month for every child in the class to have milk every day.

After dropping Sunshine off at school, Jackie posted a tearful video on Facebook to explain her granddaughter’s plan. To her surprise, many people offered to donate toward the cause. Within a week, Jackie raised more than $1,000. Now every student in Sunshine’s class can get free milk for the rest of the year.

Jackie said Sunshine doesn’t see her kind act as a big deal. She was just trying to look out for her friends. “She doesn’t understand the effect she’s brought about,” Jackie said. “But now she knows she can do whatever she puts her mind to.”

7 . You never know how far a kind act can go.When Gloria Porter and Jeff Reick began ____, they had no idea how much it would encourage others to ____ people with kindness.

89-year-old Gloria Porter was lying in hospital.She couldn’t leave her ward(病房).So to escape ____, she would often stare outside her window to watch construction workers ____ the new front entrance to the hospital.She wasn’t expecting one of the workers to wave at her.She couldn’t help but wave back at the kind ____.This was only the start of a special ____ between the two.

Jeff Reick knew Porter was____, so he decided to send a kind ____ to her by finding some chalk and writing “Get Well” on one of the beams(梁) facing her ____.“I just thought that was ____,” Porter said.“So I should do something to ____ that.”

She wrote “Stay Safe” on a piece of paper, which she then ____ on the window for the workers to see.“When I saw ‘Stay Safe’ on the window, I ____ and said to my coworkers,’Did you see that?’” Reick said.

The hospital staff took photos about that and____ them on social media.The simple acts of kindness ____ and many people were employed in similar acts.

8 . Once popular sports in ancient capital Xi’an

As the capital of 13 dynasties throughout Chinese history, Xi’an has never been far from sports.

Cuju: Origin of modern soccer

Cuju first appeared in the anetent Chinese historical work Zhan Guo Ce, which described cuju as a form of entertainment. Later, cuju was played in the army for military training purposes. The earliest record of women cuju players can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. Cuju was listed into China’s intangible cultural heritages in 2006.

Jiaodi: Chinese-style wrestlíng

Sumo,   known as Japan’s “national sport”, actually originated in ancient China. Sumo was called jiaodi in ancient times. Jiaodi was performed by athletes wearing ox horns and wrestling with each other. In the Tang Dynasty, jiaodi was part of military training and a kind of entertainment and athletic sports.

Jiju: Ancient polo

Jiju is a sport which uses a stick to hit balls while riding on a horse, pretty similar to modern polo. It was popular in the Tang Dynasty. And it was also a major military training program in the army. There is a famous painting unearthed in a prince tomb in Shanxi province in 1971, which shows more than 20 men riding on horses playing polo.

Archery

The origin of archery was closely related with hunting and defense. Ancient archery was not only an athletic event and a military training program, but also part of education. In Zhou Dynasty, the archery was listed as one of the Six Arts. During the Tang Dynasty, archery was an important part of the Wuju Imperial Examinations, and five kinds of archery skills would be tested, including on-horse shot and flat shot.